Dental Students Making a Difference in Traverse City Outreach3 min read
Photo courtesy of Rene Louchart
Ann Arbor, MI — October 16, 2013 — Students in the University of Michigan School of Dentistry’s Community-Based Dental Education program are being lauded for their skills and efforts to help those needing oral health care in the Traverse City area.
Photo courtesy of Rene Louchart
More than two years ago, U-M dental students began working with the Traverse Health Clinic, a local health agency, and private practitioners in the area to help the underserved and underinsured. Those efforts build upon the School’s extensive outreach initiatives throughout Michigan.
Photo courtesy of Rene Louchart
Once a month since June, four students head north from U-M to provide care on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The dental students treat patients at the Grand Traverse Oral Surgery clinic in Traverse City on Thursday; on Fridays and Saturdays, at the Garfield Dental Group. Overseeing their work are 13 dentist preceptors, 10 of whom are graduates of the U-M School of Dentistry.
Photo courtesy of Rene Louchart
“There is tremendous demand for dental care in this area, but our facilities are limited to help those who need it,” said Rene Louchart, dental health care coordinator of the Traverse Health Clinic. The clinic has provided care to the underserved and underinsured since the 1970s. “It’s great working with the staff at the these two dental facilities coordinating schedules, managing dental student rotations and arranging patient appointments so we can try to meet the growing needs in our area,” she added.
Since U-M dental students began providing oral health care in Traverse City in early 2011, they have treated more than 260 patients and have provided care and services valued at more than $321,000. The most common services provided include comprehensive oral examinations, extractions and restorations.
“The dental students are making a difference,” Louchart said. “Because of their clinical training and classroom education, more people in our area are receiving much-needed, quality oral health care that they were not able to receive previously.”